Giants do what Dodgers dream

Brandon League didn't let the last flakes of confetti fall to earth. Before the kids who played hooky returned to school, before Bruce Bochy's Rolls-Royce got a tuneup, League tried to spit on the Giants' parade - as it moved down Market Street - by announcing the Dodgers will be "the team to beat next year."

Actually, not so fast. Contrary to the statement from the L.A. reliever, a case can be made that the Dodgers, in the eyes of the Giants and even their fans, never have been so irrelevant.

Giants-Dodgers was one-sided for decades, the Dodgers playing before packed houses and winning five world championships and the Giants celebrating sparingly, sometimes only if they knocked the Dodgers from contention.

It's why Dick Dietz, during the Giants' 1971 division-clinching merriment, screamed, "The Dodgers can go to hell," and Brian Sabean, in the 1997 celebration, uttered something equally rosy. The Dodgers treated Giants playoff appearances like an aberration, always believing the success would be short-lived.

Not anymore, League's words notwithstanding.

Two world titles in three years? That's what the Dodgers used to do. The Giants won the World Series again, and not a word was spoken about the Dodgers. That's yesterday's news. The McCourt ownership set them back a decade, and the new ownership spent zillions of Guggenheim bucks to fast-forward them a decade, only to be left out of the playoffs.

The Dodgers made alarming trades, but Marco Scutaro was the man referred to as "Blockbuster" by Giants teammates, a compliment for Scutaro and an obvious knock on the Dodgers.

Ashkon helped pile on when releasing his latest pro-Giants video Monday, crying out this zinger (with apologies to Freddie Mercury): "No time for Dodgers, 'cause we are the champions ..."

Of course, it all could change next year. The Dodgers could win the West, and League could turn out to be a prophet. But for now, the Giants finally know how the other half lives. Or used to live.